Chuquisaca

Chuquisaca, or SUCRE, capital of Bolivia, is situated on a mountain-closed tableland, 8825 feet above the sea, on a small tributary of the Pilcomayo. It is the seat of an archbishop, and though its houses are mostly of one story, is well built, and has a magnificent cathedral, a small university, a Latin school, and a hospital. Owing to its mild climate, many of the richer miners of Potosi winter here. The 27,000 inhabitants are mostly a mixture of Spaniards and Quichua Indians. Chuquisaca was founded in 1539 on the site of an ancient Peruvian town of the same name, and was for a time called Ciudad de la Plata, from the rich silver-mines in the neighbouring mountains; but the Peruvian name signifying 'bridge of gold' was soon restored. The second name, Sucre, is derived from the general who in December 1824 fought and won the last great battle for colonial independence at Ayacucho.—The southern territory of the same name embraces a large portion of the Gran Chaco, which extends to the Brazilian frontier. The eastern portion of it is occupied by wild Indian tribes, and is low-lying and unwholesome; the climate of the west, among the offshoots of the Eastern Cordilleras, is healthy and pleasant. Area, 40,000 sq. m.; population (1900) 290,000, not inclusive of some 50,000 Indians in the eastern plains.